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This week carries extra weight for me with more on the line, as these home run picks will also go head-to-head with Covers’ Jon Metler in our weekly betting challenge on the Pickoff. There are some strong spots on the board today for both home runs and MLB player props.

For this slate, I’m locking in Christian Walker to do damage in Minneapolis against Zebby Matthews and a vulnerable Twins bullpen. I’m pairing him with earlier plays on Jo Adell and Kody Clemens as part of the card.

These are my favorite MLB home run predictions for Tuesday, May 19. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Jo Adell	+350
Kody Clemens	+499
Christian Walker	+445
💲Today's HR parlay	+13343

Home run pick: Jo Adell (+350)

If you're betting home runs today, the Los Angeles Angels should be on your card.

A's lefty Jacob Lopez ranks as one of the worst starters on the board with a bottom-50 HR/FB rate and the sixth-worst xFIP among MLB starters. He has allowed multiple home runs in three straight games, right-handed hitters own eight of the 10 homers he has surrendered this year, and he’s backed by a bullpen that gives up home runs at a Bottom-7 rate.

There were a few names worth considering, but I’m landing on Jo Adell, who should hit higher in the order today against the lefty. All six of his home runs this season have come against southpaws, along with a .993 OPS.

Mike Trout(+360) and Zach Neto (+460) were two other names I looked at in a great matchup with 75-degree temperatures and winds blowing out at Angel Stadium.

• Time: 9:38 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ABTV, NBCS-California

Home run pick: Kody Clemens (+499)

With the absences of Byron Buxton and now Ryan Jeffers, Kody Clemens becomes the target for the Minnesota Twins in arguably the best home run matchup on the board today against Lance McCullers Jr., who I have ranked as the worst starter on the slate. He has been giving up long balls, struggling with command, and his BlastContact numbers, along with his HR/FB rate, suggest more damage is on the way.

Clemens hasn’t been putting up Buxtonian numbers, but nobody has. He does have five extra-base hits over his last five games, including a homer, and profiles as the left-handed bat to target against McCullers, who has been giving up home runs to lefties along with a .876 OPS.

The bonus is a Houston Astros bullpen that sits dead last in ERA on the season and has thrown the fourth-most innings. It could also be without two right-handed relievers in A.J. Blubaugh and Jayden Murray.

If McCullers can’t get deep, Jason Alexander and his 14.21 ERA may be forced to eat innings. Finally, 14-mph winds blowing out to center should help both sides in a game that could easily feature four-plus home runs.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Twins.TV, Space City Home Network

Home run pick: Christian Walker (+445)

I need to stay in Minnesota and get some Houston HR shares. Zebby Matthews is a prime candidate for regression after getting promoted off shaky Triple-A numbers and then getting a bit of luck in his season debut last week.

He profiles as a home-run-prone arm in a spot with double-digit winds blowing out, and he’s backed by a bullpen that has already thrown nine innings using eight different arms over the last two days and could be without three or four key relievers today. The Twins' bullpen sits near the bottom of the league in ERA on the season.

Christian Walker already has nearly a dozen home runs on the year and is tracking toward a 30-HR season. His BlastContact metrics over the last two weeks are comparable to Yordan Alvarez, and this is the kind of price I want in a game that could give pitchers whiplash from start to finish.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Twins.TV, Space City Home Network

Today’s HR parlay

Jo Adell	Bet Now +13343
Kody Clemens
Christian Walker

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Attleboro (MA) Bishop Feehan High School baseball team is nearing the end of the regular season and has already qualified for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) postseason behind the left arm of Texas commit Brody Bumila.

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Up against Westwood (Mass.) Xaverian Brothers on Monday night, the Shamrocks’ ace pitcher had another masterpiece before the game went to extra innings. Bumila went nearly seven innings, allowing just one mere hit and struck out 14 batters during his time on the mound. Bishop Feehan ended up winning the contest 5-4 over Xaverian Brothers in 11 innings.

About a week and a half ago, Bumila had his best game of the 2026 Massachusetts high school baseball season, pitching a complete game no hitter and struck out a program-best 20 batters in a 5-1 win over Moses Brown.

The left-handed pitcher committed to the University of Texas baseball back in October of 2024 and is widely expected to be a potential first round draft selection in this summer’s 2026 MLB Draft. Last season Bumila appeared in eight games for Bishop Feehan, batting .296 at the plate, driving in eight runs and two doubles.

There’s been several impressive performances on the mound this season by Bumila for Bishop Feehan. Back in early April in a 6-5 loss to Hopkinton, Bumila returned to the mound for two innings of work and struck out all six batters he faced on 20 pitches. Per reporters on hand for the contest, Bumila reached up to 100 miles per hour on his pitches.

Later on in mid-April, Bumila pitched four perfect innings in a 3-0 win over St. John’s. The victory is the first earned for Bumila on the season after the pitcher went four innings, allowed no hits, runs or walks, striking out nine on 54 pitches, with 35 going for strikes.

Bishop Feehan improved to 14-8 on the season and has two remaining regular season games left versus Attleboro and Taunton, respectively.

Rockies 7, Rangers 6

• Sometimes, you gotta mix it up a little, just to keep people on their toes.
• Take the Rangers, for example.
• The Rangers have gotten us used to close losses where the Ranger pitchers do their job, but the offense lets them down.
• You do that often enough, though, and it becomes rote. Routine. Unremarkable.
• So sometimes, you want to have a game where the offense does good things, but the Rangers still lose by one due to lousy pitching, with some crappy defense mixed in.
• And thus we have this display.
• Texas was down 6-1 after four, with MacKenzie Gore allowing two runs in the first (and being lucky it was only two), then being replaced by Peyton Gray for the second due to left lat tightness.
• It was like 40 degrees in Denver and rainy, so if you’ve got a pitch with tightness or whatever, get him out of the game. It just would’ve been nice if Gore hadn’t been bad in his limited amount of work.
• Gray ended up allowing four runs in his 2.2 innings, with two of those being directly attributable to the defense, with an Ezequiel Duran throwing error and a Josh Jung booted ball leading to two unearned runs.
• Gavin Collyer ended up allowing the final Rockies run in the sixth, which made it what was then a 7-3 game. That run, as it turned out, was kind of important.
• If Corey Seager is going to be on the injured list, its at least helpful for Justin Foscue to hit like Seager.
• In what we could have called the Justin Foscue Game, had the Rangers pulled off the comeback, the forgotten 2020 first rounder went 3 for 3, drew a walk, and was a triple shy of a cycle.
• Ezequiel Duran, who is technically filling in for Seager at shortstop, while Foscue fills in for Duran at second, where Duran has been filling in for Josh Smith, also had three hits. The two combined for six of the ten hits the Rangers had on the day.
• A big, come-from-behind win was in the Rangers’ grasp on Monday. With three runs already in in the inning, Texas had runners on second and third with two outs, but Kyle Higashioka fouled out to end the inning. Jake Burger singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, but Danny Jansen popped out to end the inning.
• I think I’d rather have the hope of a comeback falling short, rather than never come back at all.
• Others may differ.
• Sometimes I will wake up in the morning after a Rangers loss, pull up B-R, look at the standings, and think to myself, hey, the Rangers’ record is a little better than I was thinking it was.
• And then I will realize that B-R just hasn’t updated the standings page yet.
• The Rangers are three games under .500, though they are still just a game back in the American League West, because the American League West is ass.
• The Athletics of Sacramento are still in first place, and still just a game up on the Rangers, because they also lost on Monday.
• Their loss was in a fashion that would be horrific if it happened to us, but which we can laugh at because it happened to a rival.
• The A’s, playing at Anaheim, went into the 9th with the score tied 0-0, and with J.T. Ginn throwing a no-hitter. The A’s scored a run in the top of the ninth, finally giving them the lead, and Ginn, at 99 pitches, was going to get the chance to close it out.
• Adam Frazier led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, busting up the no-hitter.
• Zach Neto then hit a walk off homer.
• Game over, Athletics.
• Like I said, the American League West is ass.
• MacKenzie Gore topped out at 95 mph with his fastball, averaging 94.1 mph, which is 1.3 mph below his average for the season. Peyton Gray’s fastball touched 92.3 mph. Jalen Beeks hit 93.2 mph with his fastball. Gavin Collyer’s sinker maxed out at 96.6 mph. Cole Winn’s fastball hit 95.9 mph. Jakob Junis reached 94.3 mph with his sinker.
• Justin Foscue had a 105.3 mph double, a 103.9 mph home run, and a 102.5 mph double. Ezequiel Duran has a 102.1 mph single. Josh Jung had a 100.7 mph double and a 100.3 mph ground out.
• Its bounceback time, baby. Rangers gonna win on Tuesday.

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The Baltimore Orioles visit the Tampa Bay Rays again tonight, and that matchup will headline my favorite MLB picks today for the "no run first inning" and "yes run first inning" markets.

Here are my best NRFI and YRFI picks for Tuesday, May 19. 

Best NRFI/YRFI bets today

Pick	Odds
/ - NRFI	-122
/ - NRFI	-122
/ - NRFI	-127

Orioles at Rays: NRFI (-122)

The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays continue a three-game set tonight after a massive 16-6 blowout for the Rays on Monday. While Tampa has scored in the first inning in two straight contests, they're up against Kyle Bradish here, who owns a perfect 9-0 NRFI/YRFI record this year. His 4.60 ERA doesn't jump off the page, but Bradish seldom gets into trouble in the opening frame. 

As for the Rays, they send Griffin Jax to the mound. He has a respectable 3.91 ERA, and the right-hander hasn't given up a single run in the first inning across four 2026 outings. The Orioles have also come across the plate in the first just eight times in 48 games. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, Rays.TV

Guardians at Tigers: NRFI (-122)

It's a solid pitching matchup on the mound tonight when the Cleveland Guardians take on the Detroit Tigers. Parker Messick has compiled a 2.35 ERA, and he has a perfect 9-0 NRFI/YRFI record.Keider Montero, meanwhile, sports a 3.65 ERA, and he hasn't surrendered a run in the opening inning of any of his eight starts. 

The Guards have been held scoreless in the first inning in three of their last four contests, while Detroit has also failed to score a run in the first inning in three of their last four. The Tigers are also hitting just .217 against left-handed pitchers. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Detroit SportsNet, Guardians.TV

Brewers at Cubs: NRFI (-127)

The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs meet tonight, and it's another intriguing encounter on the hill. Jacob Misiorowski has been lights out with a 2.12 ERA, and he's tossed four straight scoreless first innings. The righty has also only allowed a run in the opening frame twice this season.

As for the Cubbies, they hand the ball to Ben Brown, who has looked impressive since stepping into the rotation, keeping opponents at bay in the first inning in both of his starts.

The Brew Crew is hitting just .214 in the first inning, and they've failed to score in three straight first innings. The Cubbies have been held scoreless in 39 of their 48 games this season, and they're also batting a pedestrian .219 in the first. 

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marquee Sports Network, Brewers.TV

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Welcome back to the Minor League Roundup!

As a reminder, you can find this roundup — covering everything you need to know about each of the Brewers’ minor league affiliates — every Tuesday morning right here on Brew Crew Ball. For consistency, all organizational prospect rankings will reference MLB Pipeline unless otherwise noted.

Triple-A Nashville Sounds (26-19)

Opponent this week: Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs)

Record this week: 6-0

Standout performances:

Luis Lara (No. 5): 9-for-20, 3 RBI, 8 BB, 5 K
Cooper Pratt (No. 4): 8-for-20, 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K
Jett Williams (No. 3): 6-for-16, 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 4 K
Garrett Stallings: 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Tyson Hardin (No. 17): 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Tyson Hardin’s name appearing here isn’t an error on my part — he was promoted to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday. Hardin had been struggling in Double-A, especially compared to his breakout season last year, pitching to a 7.29 ERA over seven starts with the Shuckers. However, his first start with the Sounds was a massive improvement, as Hardin went seven innings while allowing just one earned run against the Iowa Cubs.

Garrett Stallings, Kaleb Bowman, and Thomas Pannone (remember him?), all had scoreless weeks. Robert Gasser, who made his season debut with the Brewers on Sunday, went four innings, allowing one earned run and striking out seven.

Infield prospects Cooper Pratt (.400) and Jett Williams (.375) each had a pair of home runs. After this week, Pratt’s OPS is now up to .745. He’ll have good stretches and bad stretches as the bat continues to develop, but it’s nice to see him raking after a somewhat rough couple of weeks.

Luis Lara continues to do Luis Lara things, reaching base in 17 of 28 plate appearances. Enough said. His breakout is for real; the question is whether or not there’s a spot for him this year. As Pat Murphy has said, Lara will need to play regularly when he comes up, and with Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich back, there’s less room in the lineup than there was a month ago.

Brock Wilken had another down week, bringing his average down to .174 on the season. He struggled to hit for average last year in Double-A, but he was consistently hitting home runs. Those have been hard to come by in Triple-A, as he has just two all season. Jeferson Quero also had an off-week (4-for-21), although he homered and only struck out twice.

Next week’s opponent: @ Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays)

Double-A Biloxi Shuckers (17-21)

Opponent this week: Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays)

Record this week: 3-3

Standout performances:

Mark Coley II: 6-for-16, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K
Mike Boeve: 9-for-25, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Mark Manfredi Sr.: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Manuel Rodriguez: 5IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Tanner Gillis: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Brett Wichrowski: 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Mike Boeve (.360) and Mark Coley II (.375) were the only Shuckers to hit above .300 this week. Boeve, ranked a top 10 organizational prospect at the start of last season, is quietly heating up — slashing .294/.368/.471 (.839 OPS) in 85 at-bats over the last month. The only Shucker with a higher OPS in as many at-bats is outfielder Damon Keith, who has the second-best OPS (.954) and the best batting average (.305) on the team.

Coley II, signed as a minor league free agent after the Marlins cut him in April, is a new name in the roundup — mostly because he hasn’t done much all year. He had just five hits entering the week, and even after this week, he’s still hitting 11-for-52 (.212) with an OPS under .600. With that being said, his profile is one the Brewers tend to like, so he’s worth keeping an eye on. Coley is a speedster (64-for-75 in steals for his career) who hit .253 over 249 at-bats with the Marlins’ Double-A affiliate last year.

The new No. 1 overall prospect in baseball, Jesús Made, had another bad batting average week (5-for-24), although he did notch his first multi-homer game as a member of the Brewers organization. Dylan O’Rae (5-for-21), Blake Burke (6-for-25), and Keith (5-for-25) all cooled off this week as well.

Manuel Rodriguez, Tanner Gillis, and Brett Wichrowski all showed up in their starts this week. Jaron DeBerry gave up six earned runs over 12 innings, but struck out 18 batters and issued just three walks.

Next week’s opponent: vs. Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox)

High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (20-16)

Opponent this week: South Bend Cubs (Chicago Cubs)

Record this week: 1-4

Standout performances:

Josh Adamczewski (No. 10): 8-for-15, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Braylon Payne (No. 12): 7-for-17, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Daniel Dickinson (No. 28): 4-for-14, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Braylon Owens: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Garrett Hodges: 4 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
J.D. Thompson (No. 14): 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Josh Adamczewski hit over .500 on the week and has a 1.038 OPS this season. Nothing out of the ordinary for a guy with one of the prettiest swings in the organization. Hopefully, we’ll get to see him in Double-A this summer.

Braylon Payne hit .412 with a couple of homers. One of them went *checks notes* 460 feet into the right-field bleachers. He’s now up to eight home runs on the season, behind only Andrew Fischer (10).

Speaking of Fischer (No. 6), he’s the reason Payne didn’t even have the longest homer on the Timber Rattlers this week. Fischer only had one hit this week, a 477-foot nuke of a home run. For what it’s worth, he struck out six times in 14 at-bats — at this point, there’s enough of a sample size to where the strikeouts are more than a little concerning. Still, this is his first full season as a member of the organization, and I have confidence that a guy who had a 14.6% strikeout rate in his final season in college will be able to work out the kinks.

Other than Adamczewski and Payne, Daniel Dickinson was the only Timber Rattler to hit over .200 this week (min. 10 at-bats). He hasn’t had a great start to the season (.206 batting average, .574 OPS), so hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Playing time for Dickinson may be slightly harder to come by in the weeks to follow because No. 2 prospect Luis Peña should be back soon. Peña has officially been cleared to play after missing nearly a month due to a scary incident in a game last month. Per Curt Hogg, he is scheduled to join the Arizona Complex League Brewers sometime this week.

It was a rough week for Wisconsin’s pitching staff, which allowed 74 runs in just five games this week, including 24-plus runs in two separate games this week (yes, you read that right). The Timber Rattlers allowed nine runs or more in all four of their losses, winning 11-6 in their fifth game. One of the bright spots on the pitching staff was 2025 10th-rounder Braylon Owens (3.45 ERA in seven appearances), who put together another solid outing. His ERA leads all Timber Rattlers pitchers this season.

Former second-rounder J.D. Thompson also pitched well after getting lit up for four runs over two innings in his last outing. One really can’t put too much stock in Thompson’s ERA (6.00) given that he’s only pitched nine innings this year, and the underlying stats actually look really good. He hasn’t allowed more than two hits or walks in any outing this year and is striking out more than a batter per inning. Keep an eye on him as he starts to get comfortable in High-A.

Next week’s opponent: @ Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Single-A Wilson Warbirds (19-19)

Opponent this week: Hill City Howlers (Cleveland Guardians)

Record this week: 4-2

Standout performances:

Pedro Ibarguen: 5-for-11, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Brady Ebel (No. 13): 7-for-21, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
Jose Meneses: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Enderson Mercado: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Brady Ebel bounced back this week, leading the Warbirds in hits with seven. Nineteen-year-old Pedro Ibarguen, someone I said to keep an eye on a few weeks ago, is now hitting .353/.433/.510 over the last month in his first full season in Single-A. He’s been with the organization since 2023, when he was signed as an international free agent, but is still super young and looks to be developing into a productive player in Wilson.

Another position player who I haven’t given much love to this year is outfielder Jose Anderson, also 19, who hit another home run this week to bring his season total to eight. Anderson is hitting just .172 with a .276 OBP, but he leads the Warbirds in home runs and is tied for second with seven doubles. He needs just three more home runs to tie his career high, set last year in over 200 more plate appearances.

Wilson’s hitting stats weren’t particularly gaudy, but a couple of pitchers put together great weeks. Jose Meneses made two scoreless appearances, allowing six hits but striking out five over 5 2/3 innings. Meneses, a 21-year-old lefty, now has a 1.80 ERA through 20 innings. Enderson Mercado went six innings while allowing four hits and a lone earned run. Jarrett Bonet, named the organization’s Pitcher of the Month in April, allowed four earned runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight.

Next week’s opponent: vs. Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles)

Player of the Week

Jett Williams, who had a 1.628 OPS this week and a .981 OPS — with five home runs — over the last month. If the Brewers decide they want more offense out of the left side of the infield than Luis Rengifo, Joey Ortiz, and David Hamilton are currently providing, the versatile Williams figures to be the next man up. He probably wouldn’t be the everyday shortstop, but a super-utility role — one that gets his bat in the lineup more often than not — isn’t out of the question. Even if he doesn’t reach the majors until later this season, it’s encouraging to see the Brewers’ No. 3 prospect heating up after a slow start.

Play of the Week

It’s only May, but Jordyn Adams may have already made the play of the year:

Shōta Imanaga has been so good this year that I think all of us hoped he had turned the page on 2025 and would have a 2024-type season all year.

Until Monday, that was the case. Unfortunately, Imanaga got hit hard and had his worst start of the year (and to be honest, he had a couple of clunkers like this in ‘24, too), and the Cubs’ 15-game home winning streak ended ith a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the Brewers.

Christian Yelich homered in the second to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Now, the wind was blowing out at 15 miles per hour on a warm evening at Wrigley Field, but that one didn’t need any help — it bounced off the right-field video board and measured 409 feet.

The Brewers put four on the board in the fourth and honestly, with a bit of luck Imanaga could have gotten out of that inning scoreless. Milwaukee had five hits in the inning, but the only one hit hard was a two-run double by Sal Frelick. A couple of seeing-eye singles and one that Nico Hoerner couldn’t get an out on produced most of the damage that gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.

The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Brandon Sproat over the first four innings, even though the first two Cubs hitters of the game, Hoerner and Michael Busch, drew walks. About that, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs failed to score in the first inning after their first two batters walked.

In their last six games that had begun that way, from April 9, 2022 through July 18, 2025, the Cubs had scored three, six, five, six, five and three runs. They had won five of the games, only lost the next-to-last at home vs. the Padres, 8-7, on April 6 of last year.

The last time they did not score was on May 4, 2021, but they beat the Dodgers at home, 4-3.

So, not scoring in that situation is not only unusual, but the Cubs had generally won games like that in recent years. Not this time, though.

Imanaga was finally removed after serving up a three-run homer to Jake Bauers in the fifth. From John:

The eight runs off Imanaga tie for the second most he has surrendered in his 64 career starts.

He gave up 10 to the Mets in 3.0 innings on June 21, 2024, and eight to the Mets on Sept. 25 in 5.2 innings of last year. Both games were at home.

This was the eighth start in which he gave up at least five runs. His ERA this year was 2.32 going into Monday. Now it is 3.38.

I remember that 2024 game well. If it’s any consolation, in his first five starts after that game, Imanaga posted a 2.93 ERA and threw well most of the rest of 2024.

The Cubs did make an attempt to get back in the game. Carson Kelly’s single leading off the fifth erased any thoughts of a no-hit bid by Sproat. After Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out, Dansby Swanson deposited a baseball on Waveland [VIDEO].

That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

And in case you were wondering where that ball wound up:

There have already been more home runs hit to Waveland this year, in 24 home games, than all of last year, when there were only three.

Nico followed with a walk and Busch doubled him in [VIDEO].

Well. Now it’s 8-3 and there’s only one out, another couple of hits and the Cubs are back in the game. Unfortunately, Alex Bregman grounded out and Ian Happ was called out on strikes to end the inning.

The Brewers made it 9-3 off Ethan Roberts in the sixth, the first run Roberts has allowed all year.

The Cubs put newcomer Ty Blach in the game in the seventh. He wound up throwing three scoreless innings, helped out by this nice throw by Happ to get Luis Rengifo trying to stretch a single into a double [VIDEO].

Blach did exactly the job the Cubs put him on the roster for — to eat up some innings and save the rest of the bullpen. He’s 35 and not likely going to be around for long, but that was a nice effort for the evening.

The Cubs did have some baserunners after the three-run seventh, but nothing doing, and overall the team was 0-for-9 with RISP. You know that’s been an issue much of the year, so I won’t belabor it, especially in a 9-3 blowout.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

I agree with Counsell about Imanaga’s command being the issue. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed quickly and he can turn it around in his next start.

One last note on this game from John:

This was the Cubs’ 100th regular-season game at home vs. the Brewers in which they allowed at least five runs.
They are 28-72 in those games.

When they have given up no more than four runs, the Cubs are 91-39 — .700.

The Cubs are 74-21, .779, when they have scored at least five vs. the Brewers at Wrigley, and 45-89, .336, with four or fewer.

The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central over the Brewers dropped to half a game with this loss (and Milwaukee is one game ahead in the loss column). And this series is not going to get any easier with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound for Milwaukee Tuesday evening. Ben Brown will get the start for the Cubs and he’s been really good in his two starts so far this year. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

It’s getting harder and harder to argue against the belief that Cristopher Sánchez is one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Phillies ace lefty turned in one of the most dominant outings of the season so far in his last start, a complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts on 108 pitches. That dazzling performance lowered Sánchez’ season ERA to 1.82 which led the National League on Monday morning and was the fourth best in all of baseball. 

It’s funny to think now how disliked the trade that brought Sánchez to the Phillies was at the time it was made. As you’re probably well aware of by now, the Phillies traded a then top 100 prospect in Curtis Mead for Sánchez who, at the time, was deemed not worthy of the Tampa Bay Rays 40-man roster. Many evaluators believed that Sánchez’ ceiling was that of either a reliever or AAAA-type starter who would be destined to bounce back and forth from the Major and minor leagues. 

Sánchez deserves the lion’s share of the credit for his transformation from a fringe of the roster body into one of the best pitchers in baseball. He put in the work to improve himself physically and mentally to achieve a ceiling many thought not possible. But the Phillies deserve some credit too, as they helped him along in his journey and were able to successfully develop a homegrown ace. 

That brings us to our question of the day: Who is the Phillies’ biggest player development win? Sánchez may be the favorite, but the last winning core in Philadelphia also had some players that exceeded expectations. Ryan Howard of course was a fifth-round pick that turned into one of the most feared hitters across the league, but he was considered a first-round talent in some circles. Carlos Ruiz was never even close to a highly touted prospect, but under the Phillies tutelage he turned into a mainstay at catcher for a championship team while also guiding one of the best rotations in baseball history.

Who are some other huge development wins in Phillies history? Is Sánchez the biggest? What about Howard and Ruiz? 

It’s funny that it happened yesterday for two reasons, at least to me.

First, in the recap thread for Sunday’s game, there was a brief exchange about non-competitive games. Using a couple of different methodologies, True2Atlanta and I noted that there have only been four-ish games where the Braves weren’t competitive. I did a method that used average leverage throughout the game, and found that about 40 percent of games this season have been below-average in competitiveness basically all the way through, but 80 percent of those were Braves wins/dominations.

Second, Sunday’s game was the first time this season I missed a few innings. I did it “deliberately,” in the sense that the Braves had a big lead and I surmised I wouldn’t miss anything at all if I went to deal with “you’ve recently been in a car wreck” stuff. Yesterday’s game, well… there wasn’t really any reason to watch the horror show descend on Bummer and company.

Anyway, was last night rock bottom in terms of single-game dismantling of the Braves, or are we somehow going to be in for even worse somewhere in the 100ish remaining games of the season?

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that poor defense was the main culprit for the Texas Rangers dropping the series opener against the Colorado Rockies.

McFarland writes that Josh Jung in particular felt responsible for the defeat to Colorado after Jung’s error led to two runs scoring in a one-run loss.

Kennedi Landry writes that the game felt adverse from the start as Texas lost MacKenzie Gore to a muscle ailment after just one inning in the chilly conditions.

McFarland notes that Gore didn’t seem to think his injury was serious but the lefty will surely require more monitoring.

In addition to whatever the heck happened to Gore, Landry notes that Corey Seager finally landed on the IL proper yesterday after already missing several games with a back issue.

And, Matt Snyder has a power rankings for CBS sports but it’s mostly about how teams leaguewide have been bad and/or disappointing in what has been a very unusual season thus far.

Have a nice day!